Tell me about head torches that will work for running as well as biking

There seem to be a lot of Cree / XML Led bike lights on ebay, along with dedicated headtorchs of a similar brightness, but I see that the Hope R4 can be head mounted with out a helmet, for running use, which is tempting. Has anyone used the R4 as a running light?

I've got a Magicshine MJ808 (?) which they sell head straps for, but think the battery might be too bulky even in a pocket.

Looking for headtorch recommendations that may double as a bike light...

Silva does a brilliant running light -http://silva.se/product-family/runner - that I reckon would for biking as well. It has a remote battery which keeps the head unit really light and it looks to be very similar to the Pavé bike light, so the mount may be adaptable.

I bought these from amazon because there were stupidly cheap. I bought 2 actually, both work fine, attach to my bike well and have a head torch attachment come with them. Cheap as chips, not overly resistant to water but a bit of gaffa tape sorted that out. I also use it for running, people definitely know I am there.

Another vote for maximusmountain's suggestion (or something very similar also available on ebay or DX). People I know use lights looking like that (I'm not sure if they're all equivalent, but all look very similar) for night orienteering and reckon they're pretty good.

Just get a small bumbag to carry the battery - you won't notice it's there.

I've already got an Alpkit Gamma and its fine, but having done a couple of night run races, it felt like some people behind me had just turned on some football floodlights whilst I was holdng a candle.

The Ayup and Petzl ones look quite pricey for the quoted lumens but I'm tempted by the Ayups....or the cheapo Amazon head torch or similar from ebay.

I'm a bit disappointed that Alpkit haven't brought out an updated Gamma given the advancements in lighting in the last few years but the Gamma is still what I use. I did forget it the other night and got caught out by the nights closing in - quite exciting and hopefully good for the reflexes

Not by most people's definition of "best". Kind of outdated now with a claimed 350lm - even my "ancient" homemade quad XR-E should easily beat that (and is also far lighter). Plenty of brighter branded commercial offerings if you want one of those as opposed to one of the chinese ones already linked above. I've yet to find a high powered commercial one which matches my homebrew for weight though.

They are but as above I wouldn't get too distracted by the quoted lumens. It's the usable light which is important. Also consider battery life and reliability.

The Myo does look puny on paper compared to some of the Cree LEDs and similar but in use it's plenty bright enough for running - it's got me over Crib Coch in the dark and down Loughrigg in the pitch black on the bike after my main light failed. For general use I only need to swap out the batteries a couple of times a year.

For reference, the Cree light I've just bought is identical to Maximusmountains - it's really bright but I wouldn't want to rely on it 100%.

It's a shame the myo doesn't have an option to move the battery pack into a pocket or backpack, I really fined it irritating having a battery pack on the back of my head.

I am generally happy with a tikka xp2, although if I know I am going on more treacherous trails I have 2, one on my head and one round my waist. I find 2 light sources gives much better depth perception.

I used a Gloworm X2 for last year's night orienteering league and it was spot on. Comfortable, bright and easy to operate with gloves on.

By the by I've used the ultra, hope r4, silva Alpha and various other ones and it's easily as good as any of them. The fancy cradles on the alpha and Ultra are clever but don't actually make that much difference whilst the light quality and power is a LONG* way below modern torches.